Absorbed title** - A serial title incorporated by another and usually assuming the title and numbering of the latter.

Abstract** - An abbreviated, accurate representation of a work, usually without added interpretation or criticism, accompanied by a bibliographic reference to the original work when appearing separately from it. [ALA Glossary, modified]

Abstract bulletin** - A bulletin issued by a special library containing abstracts of works of interest to its target group, primarily as a selective dissemination of information service. [ALA Glossary]

Abstract journal** - A journal consisting wholly or substantially of abstracts of works in a specific subject field or a group of subject fields. [ALA Glossary]

Abstracting and indexing service** - A serial issued on paper, in microform, or as a machine readable database providing subject access to works in a specific subject field or group of subject fields by means of abstracts and indexes and available by subscription or fee. [ALA Glossary]

Academic research journal** - A periodical devoted to disseminating primary research findings. Also known as Primary research journal.

Adapter** - The circuitry required to support a particular device. For example, video adapters enable the computer to support graphics monitors, and network adapters enable a computer to attach to a network. Adapters can be built into the main circuitry of a computer or they can be separate add-ons that come in the form of expansion boards. (Webopedia: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/a/adapter.html)

Added charge** - An additional charge levied by a publisher or vendor subsequent to receipt of the initial payment for a subscription. Added charges may occur for a variety of reasons, such as a price increase between the time a subscription agent billed a library and a publisher either announced new prices or processed the order; because the publisher released additional material or volumes; or because of fluctuations in foreign currency conversion rates. See also Supplemental invoice.

Added copy** - An additional copy of an item already in a library collection which is to be, or has been, added to the collection. Compare with Duplicate. In the plural, sometimes called multiple copies. [ALA Glossary]

Added entry** - An entry, additional to the main entry, by which an item is represented in a catalogue; a secondary entry. See also Main entry. [AACR2, rev]

Added title page** - A title page preceding or following the title page chosen as the basis for the description of the item. It may be more general (e.g., a series title page), or equally general (e.g., a title page in another language). See also Series title page.

[AACR2, rev]

Added volume** - A volume of a set or series added to a library's holdings subsequent to initial receipt of the title.

Additional volume** - An extra volume of a serial released by a publisher and not originally announced in the publisher's publication schedule.

ADONIS project** - A document delivery service for pharmaceutical companies providing full text, laser printed articles from more than two hundred biomedical journals of thirty or more publishers. A consortium of publishers and document delivery centers, the ADONIS project is housed in Elsevier Science Publishing Company's quarters in Amsterdam.

Advances** - Collections of articles reviewing a single, often broad, subject, such as Advances in Librarianship. Advances typically are published in annual volumes.

Agent** - A term sometimes used synonymously with Vendor but more accurately referring to Subscription agent. Agent is sometimes used interchangeably with Dealer.

Agent** - A program that performs some information gathering or processing task in the background. Typically, an agent is given a very small and well-defined task. Although the theory behind agents has been around for some time, agents have become more prominent with the recent growth of the Internet. Many companies now sell software that enables you to configure an agent to search the Internet for certain types of information. In computer science, there is a school of thought that believes that the human mind essentially consists of thousands or millions of agents all working in parallel. To produce real artificial intelligence, this school holds, we should build computer systems that also contain many agents and systems for arbitrating among the agents' competing results. (Webopedia: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/a/agent.html)

Aggregator** - 1. An organization which contracts with electronic information providers on behalf of several or many libraries. 2. Provider of a common interface. The noteworthy feature of this type aggregator is the subscribing library negotiates the price of the online periodical subscription directly with publisher or through a subscription agent. 3. A provider of access to a group of electronic journals and/or databases which do not require separate subscriptions. [Nigel.Gilbert@soc.surrey.acuk]. March 6, 1997. Aggregators of Electronic Journals. (In Liblicense-l [liblicensel@lists.yale.edu].(http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/ListArchives/9703/msg00012.html)

Air freight** - 1. A service offered by vendors and publishers. Serial issues published in a foreign country are received in that country by the vendor, packed, and shipped at bulk air rate to their library customers. 2. The postage charge assessed to materials shipped by air.

Air service charge** - The fee charged to cover the costs of shipping materials by air freight.

Almanac** - A type of serial, usually an annual, which compiles facts and statistics. An almanac may be limited in coverage and scope but more typically covers long time spans and broad geographical and subject areas. See also Yearbook.

Alternate delivery** - A method of distribution by which a publisher sends materials via a private delivery firm rather than by the U.S. Postal Service.

American National Standards Committee Z39** - Replaced by National Information Standards Organization, which see.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)** - A federation whose membership represents industrial firms, trade and technical associations, labor and consumer organizations, and government agencies. ANSI coordinates the voluntary standards developed by groups in the United States in fields ranging from information services to building construction. The institute represents the United States to international standards organizations and provides information on foreign standards. See also American National Standards Committee Z39 and National Information Standards Organization.

American Standard Code for Information Interchange** - See ASCII.

Analytic** - See Analytical entry.

Analytical entry** - 1. An access point to part of a bibliographic item for which a comprehensive bibliographic record has been made, e.g., to the author and title of a poem in an anthology, to the subject of a chapter of a monograph, or to the title of a separately titled volume of a multivolume set of books. 2. A bibliographic record of part of a bibliographic item for which a comprehensive record may be made. Synonymous with Analytic. [ALA Glossary]

Analog** - Electronic equipment that directly records the features of audio or video signals instead of representing those signals digitally. See also Digital.

Annals** - 1. A periodical that records the activities of an organization or developments in a specialized field. 2. A record of events arranged in yearly sequence. 3. Historical records.

Annual** - A serial issued once a year. [ALA Glossary, modified]

Annual invoice** - The primary, consolidated billing from a publisher or vendor for a customer's subscriptions. Normally sent in late summer or fall.

ANSI** - See American National Standards Institute.

ANSI Z39** - See American National Standards Committee Z39.

Application software** - (also called end-user programs) includes database programs, word processors, and spreadsheets. Figuratively speaking, applications software sits on top of systems software because it is unable to run without the operating system and system utilities. (Webopedia: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/a/application.html)

Approval plan** - An arrangement between a vendor or publisher and a library whereby a profile is created of the library's collection needs. The vendor or publisher supplies all the publications, as issued, that match the library's profile. The library, in turn, is granted the right to return those publications it deems unsuitable. An approval profile typically specifies subject areas and levels to be collected as well as a variety of nonsubject parameters, such as format, price, language, and place of publication. Approval plans normally provide the option of receiving notification slips rather than the publications themselves.

Archive** - 1. To back up data onto disk, tape, or other storage medium. 2. A filing and retrieval system for indefinite preservation of data.

ASCII** – Acronym for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Pronounced ask-ee, ASCII is a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer to another. (Webopedia: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/ASCII.html)

Assignment** - A transfer of all or part of the contractual rights and/or obligations to another party. (Licensing Digital Information: Definitions of Words and Phrases Commonly Found in Licensing Agreements: http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/definiti.shtml)

Attachment** - A file attached to an e-mail message. Many e-mail systems only support sending text files as e-mail. If the attachment is a binary file or formatted text file, it must be encoded before it is sent and decoded once it is received. See also E-mail.

Authentication** - A process by which the identity of a user accessing a network or other source of information is verified. (Licensing Digital Information: Definitions of Words and Phrases Commonly Found in Licensing Agreements: http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/definiti.shtml)

Authorization/password** - A unique authorization and password is generated by the publisher/aggregator for an institution or an individual.

Authorized use; permitted use** - Use of information that is expressly allowed under a licensing agreement. See also License agreement. (Licensing Digital Information: Definitions of Words and Phrases Commonly Found in Licensing Agreements: http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/definiti.shtml)

Authorized user; permitted user** - A person designated in a licensing agreement as having permission to access or otherwise use the digital information that is the subject matter of the agreement. See also License agreement. (Licensing Digital Information: Definitions of Words and Phrases Commonly Found in Licensing Agreements: http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/definiti.shtml)

Automated services** - Those services offered a library by a vendor or publisher that make use of automation. Examples of such services include the electronic transmission of bibliographic and invoice data from the vendor's computers into a library's automated systems, and the formulation of various lists and reports tailored to individual library customers.

Automatic renewal** - An agreement whereby a library customer grants a vendor authority to continue to renew its subscriptions. Such an agreement precludes the need to review annual renewal : definition